Hot Prospects Fuel New York Mets Farm System Rankings

The New York Mets have one of the top systems in baseball as ranked by two different outlets.

The New York Mets have maintained the quality of its farm system as it remained in the top half of recent system rankings released by both Baseball America and ESPN.

Baseball America ranked the Mets at No. 8 while ESPN ranked the Mets at No. 11.

For Baseball America, this is a continuation of the system’s Top 10 ranking before the 2023 season, when the Mets were No. 5 overall. Before that, the Mets were No. 16 in 2022, No. 19 in 2021, No. 25 in 2020 and No. 19 in 2019.

The organization, now led by president of baseball operations David Stearns, has made a concerted effort to restock the system.

The organization remained the Top 10 in part because of the progress some of its own homegrown players have made.

Baseball America ranked shortstop Jett Williams as the Mets’ No. 1 prospect and the No. 30 prospect in baseball. Williams made a huge jump in the quality of his play in 2023 he’s starting to close in on the Majors.

Another infielder, Ronny Mauricio, made his MLB debut last season but will miss part of this season due to tearing his ACL in winter ball. But he was still ranked No. 87 by Baseball America while outfielder Drew Gilbert was No. 91.

Gilbert is the other part of the reason why the Mets have maintained a spot in the Top 10. Baseball America writes that five of the organization’s Top 20 players were from trade deadline deals. The Mets got Gilbert from the Houston Astros.

Meanwhile, ESPN ranked six Mets prospects among its Top 100. Williams was No. 31, Gilbert was No. 39 and Mauricio was No. 72. The other three were shortstop Luisangel Acuña at No. 58 (who was acquired from Texas for Max Scherzer), outfielder Ryan Clifford at No. 80 (acquired from the Astros) and pitcher Christian Scott at No. 99.

Baseball America Farm System Rankings (as of February 2024)

1. Baltimore Orioles

2. Milwaukee Brewers

3. Texas Rangers

4. Chicago Cubs

5. Detroit Tigers

6. San Diego Padres

7. Tampa Bay Rays

8. New York Mets

9. New York Yankees

10. Los Angeles Dodgers

11. Cincinnati Reds

12. Pittsburgh Pirates

13. Boston Red Sox

14. Minnesota Twins

15. Washington Nationals

16. Seattle Mariners

17. Arizona Diamondbacks

18. Chicago White Sox

19. Cleveland Guardians

20. St. Louis Cardinals

21. Philadelphia Phillies

22. San Francisco Giants

23. Colorado Rockies

24. Toronto Blue Jays

25. Oakland Athletics

26. Atlanta Braves

27. Miami Marlins

28. Los Angeles Angels

29. Houston Astros

30. Kansas City Royals

ESPN Farm System Rankings (as of February 2024)

(Note: systems are ranked by empirical surplus dollar values for each future value tier of prospect, based on a formula developed by FanGraphs)

1. Baltimore Orioles ($371 million)

2. Chicago Cubs ($328 million)

3. Detroit Tigers ($318 million)

4. San Diego Padres ($284 million)

5. Milwaukee Brewers ($276 million)

6. New York Yankees ($252 million)

7. Tampa Bay Rays ($249 million)

8. Los Angeles Dodgers ($247 million)

9. Minnesota Twins ($241 million)

10. Cincinnati Reds ($237 million)

11. New York Mets ($235 million)

12. Texas Rangers ($228 million)

13. Boston Red Sox ($223 million)

14. Pittsburgh Pirates ($222 million)

15. San Francisco Giants ($207 million)

16. Washington Nationals ($203 million)

17. Seattle Mariners ($200 million)

18. St. Louis Cardinals ($193 million)

19. Cleveland Guardians ($187 million)

20. Chicago White Sox ($172 million)

21. Arizona Diamondbacks ($168 million)

22. Colorado Rockies ($161 million)

23. Philadelphia Phillies ($158 million)

24. Toronto Blue Jays ($126 million)

25. Oakland Athletics ($112 million)

26. Kansas City Royals ($89 million)

27. Houston Astros ($88 million)

28. Atlanta Braves ($87 million)

29. Miami Marlins ($82 million)

30. Los Angeles Angels ($66 million)